Dead Space: Pilgrim

by PyroFox117

AU. Sequel to "Dead Space: Zealot". Destroying the Sprawl accomplished nothing. The end of humanity is nigh. A new discovery is all that may stand between the human race and its doom. Curtis, Nicole and their friends travel to the distant moon Acheron in search of knowledge that may yet save humankind. However, Acheron will not surrender its secrets so easily... OC X Stalker!Nicole

Hey, everyone! Welcome back to another Dead Space tale of life, death, action, drama, romance, horror and more. Less than a year after the conclusion of Zealot, too - I'm very pleased that I was able to release this so quickly. Before going further, I should say this tale will be on the shorter side, probably around the length of Ascetic (so in the ballpark of 50,000 words). It's a mostly original story, though it deals with some plot threads from the last story and transitions into my adaptation of Dead Space 3.

This story is going to be somewhat unique in that it leans more into the Alien franchise than Dead Space. This'll be the high-water mark for its influence on these stories, even though subsequent entries will feature many Alien elements. Compounding that is the fact no Necromorphs will appear in this story... except Nicole, obviously. Even in Ascetic, which was more slice-of-life, Necromorphs still appeared in the first chapter! But you'll have to read on to see exactly why that is. Because of the strong Alien influence, I want to once again promote my friend CelfwrDderwydd's excellent canon spin-off Dead Space: Beast (it's the only story in my profile's "Favorites" tab). While not required reading, it deals with the Xenomorphs in this universe, and it's also just a really good story that not too many people know about.

Speaking of Alien, I should make clear that only three pieces of the franchise are canon to this series: Alien, Alien: Isolation and Aliens. I believe I've mentioned that a few times, but not often. Those are three of the most iconic and beloved entries, and they're also the most relevant to the story I want to tell, not to mention that they don't conflict with most Dead Space lore. I'll still reference other pieces of Alien media as I see fit, like the references I've made to Alien: Resurrection with Lexine being known to Weyland-Yutani as Ripley 8 (I'm still very proud of that tidbit). But that doesn't mean those mentions are canon - they're just for fun.

There's also a special difficulty I faced: writing a toddler. I've never done that, and I hope I did a decent job without being annoying. I researched child development for this to find out the physical and mental capabilities of a two-year-old, so that was interesting. Other than that, this was a pretty lax chapter to write. It reintroduces the characters after a time skip before easing them into a new adventure - what might be the start of their final journey to end the Marker threat for all time. It has a bit more recapping and exposition than I would have liked, but I wanted to catch you guys up on the details you may have forgotten. It'll stop after this chapter.

I want to promote my Discord server and Ko-Fi again, though I'm sure everyone reading the fourth entry of my series already knows about them. Just want to cover all my bases. Remove spaces and asterisks:

www *.* discord *.* gg */* HPcMTpxVsH

https *:* */* */* ko-fi *.* com */* aninvisibleman

Finally, I'm doing all right in my personal life. Nothing much has changed since I last talked about it in... some A/N or other, I'm sure. I think that's everything I wanted to go over. Hope you all enjoy it! Comments are much appreciated. I always love hearing what you guys like and what you think can be improved.

New Horizons Lunar Colony

3 Years Post-Sprawl Outbreak

Curtis strode through his apartment's door, hoping he didn't track in too much lunar regolith. Nicole kept the place spotless (not like she had anywhere else to be), but he didn't want to inflict more work upon his wife. She had enough on her plate.

"Hello," he said as a courtesy, though there was really no need. Shut the door as quickly as possible to make sure nobody saw the raptor-like zombie hunched in a chair in front of her monitor. While it hadn't happened yet, there was always a risk of someone looking over his shoulder and spotting her. Then again, given how prevalent cybernetic and gene modding was on New Horizons, they might not have even noticed. He'd guess about 15 percent of the adult population had prosthetics or replacements, though that was nothing compared to the people with tails, an extra arm or even modified themselves to look like aliens, anthropomorphic animals, etc. Curtis didn't judge. Whatever made them happy. There wasn't enough of that in the universe.

"Hey," Nicole replied, turning her head from the screen and smiling. The way she separated her mandibles and revealed her fangs sent his heart fluttering all these years later. It was the most beautiful grin he'd ever seen. He felt the warmth and love radiating from her, and she felt his right back. It kept him going no matter how boring his job may have been.

With their connection, she knew everything he did and vice versa, so long as they were within a few miles of each other. Still, they often talked aloud. If they didn't, there might have been days at a time when neither of them spoke a single word, instead losing themselves in the collective world of their own heads.

It was tempting to retreat into that kasbah when the end of humanity was nigh.

Six years passed since he learned that an incomprehensible force bore down on mankind. It was hungry. It was coming. And, by the rate society deteriorated around them, it must have been at their doorstep. He heaved a deep sigh.

Curtis walked past a row of clutter to the scratched window and looked out. Thousands of spaceships and flying cars raced past in the distant sky lanes, ferrying goods and people to Earth and worlds beyond. Advertisements and holograms lit up entire sides of buildings, which stretched as far as the eye could see into seemingly endless sprawl. Beyond it were a few other lunar colonies (though New Horizons was the largest) and endless seas of dust and craters. Earth permanently hung in the sky. The night side, currently, but he knew it to be Africa based on the patterns of lights he'd seen a thousand times before. This would have looked like a dream to someone from 500 years ago.

To them, it was reality, and not a particularly good one. That was proven, in part, by a tall dome occupying the center of the city, which still had scaffolding attached to the outside. Construction on it started the same day he and Nicole moved to Luna, though it had long since been completed. Though a government building, as could easily be discerned because of the EarthGov logo on the side, nobody ever revealed exactly what those taxpayer credits went toward.

But the faint whispering in his head let him know it housed a Marker. There must have been hundreds now. On extrasolar colonies, on the other planets in the solar system, and, most tragically, on Earth. The home of mankind had been flooded by things which sought only to end it. The only good news was that, somehow, Necromorphs still didn't run amok. On the Sprawl, an outbreak started within a few months of the Golden Marker being completed. This Marker must have been around for at least two years, plus the hundreds of others.

Curtis and Nicole didn't know if the government's psychic-blocking shielding had been refined to be more effective at cancelling the reanimation part of the Marker signal, or if the Markers, stinging from their previous losses, wanted to consolidate more power before launching their attack. Either was possible, or it could have been a combination of both. But they weren't safe.

The disparate ads on every digital billboard changed over all at once to a "breaking news" bulletin, which happened more and more often. Another massive riot, this time blocking the entire Loop expressway, he learned from the subtitles. Dozens of fatalities between the people run over and those that EarthGov forces needed to kill - all in "self-defense", of course. Curtis turned away and yanked the curtains across the window, shaking. There was nothing he could do except wonder how much of this escalating violence stemmed from the Markers' influence versus what came from the collective psyche of humanity, which seemed to have reached a breaking point.

The crises of the last few years - the planet cracking industry being sucked down the drain, half the economy going with it and the largest loss of life in human history - finally made people realize that something was very, very wrong. Maybe not with EarthGov specifically (though many people thought so), but with all of civilization. Only violence resulted.

"Anything you want to do later?" he asked, in part to get his mind to a better place. Again, Curtis could have read her mind to see if she had any plans, but he wanted the two of them to converse like regular people. Instant communication was in her nature, yet Nicole agreed with him on that front. When the stakes were low, anyway. In dangerous circumstances, they thought and fought as one without hesitation. One of the many reasons they were such a dangerous duo!

"Yes, actually. I invited Gabe, Lexine and Natalie over to watch the Z-ball game." Right, the Delhi Tigers were playing the New Horizons Armstrongs at Washington Stadium that "night". Excitement brewed within him, and Nicole's interest flitted on the edge of his psyche.

"Can't wait," Curtis replied, stripping out of the metal coffin he wore. They'd been friends with the Wellers for six years, yet it felt like much longer. "What about Isaac?"

Her expression darkened. "I asked, but..." She shared her memories of the vid-log. Her former fiancée looked awful. To be fair, none of them were living the high life, but Isaac had been stewing in it the last few weeks. Since Ellie broke up with him. The two had started a relationship after the Sprawl, yet... well, it would have been in bad taste to speculate. Other peoples' relationship problems weren't their business.

"I was happy for him. He'd moved on from me and found someone else who gave him joy," Nicole admitted, rubbing the back of her neck with foot-long talons. "There's nothing we can do, though."

Sadly not, he thought as his RIG hit the floor. Needed to scrub it off before the next day in Tycho crater. This wasn't something any of them could get therapy for. All they had was each other. Sometimes that wasn't enough. Maybe Curtis would stop by and slide a pizza under his door or something. That was the best way he could think of to show concern without being overbearing.

"More research in the meantime?"

"You know it. I've been doing it all day, and I won't stop now." That was what she exclusively hogged the computer for. Nicole had long since ceased publishing her digital art, though she still did some pieces for a private collection. The government had found them on Titan Station despite their small Transnet footprints, so now, they went almost entirely analog. No downloads or Transnet use unless absolutely necessary. Most entertainment and news, they either got directly from Stefan, used public channels (they could still watch TV, for instance), or they sought solace in the printed word. It was a very niche industry, but one that still existed. They tried to get into the 17th edition of Dungeons & Dragons with Gabe, Lexine and Isaac, but it ended up not being their thing.

Online connections were mostly out, though, which cut them off from most of the galaxy. That was all right with him. It turned out that the universe offered little which could not already be found within themselves or the people they most cared about.

Curtis was confident that the gambit worked and neither EarthGov nor the Church of Unitology nor Weyland-Yutani knew their location, or even if they were still alive. If somebody did, they'd already have been kidnapped or killed.

Nicole's endeavors were consumed by increasing amounts of research on what little information they stole from the Weyland-Yutani labs on Titan Station, as well as what Nicole already knew about the Necromorphs, plus whatever Stefan Schneider sent her. "Research" was a loose term when there was so little to work with, though.

At this point, it was clear everything was connected. The Xenomorphs were ancient enemies of the Necromorphs, seemingly evolved or designed to kill them. Xenomorph DNA also influenced Lexine's DNA through her distant ancestor Ellen Ripley, part of the team that made first contact almost 400 years ago. Lexine, while not able to kill Necromorphs or Markers better than anyone else, still disrupted their telepathic powers.

Lexine. Xenomorphs. Necromorphs. Learning more about one would tell them more about the others. Without the latter two to study, however, her analyses hit a wall. Even more EEG readings and every other form of noninvasive procedure wouldn't help discover more about Lexine's physiology - those gains had all been maximized. The only way to possibly learn more would be to cut her open and poke around, which, unlike EarthGov or a shady megacorp, Nicole wasn't going to do.

She attempted everything, from asking Stefan for increasingly elaborate decryption and data salvaging software to more esoteric methods, like trying to learn astral projection so she could exit her body and spy on EarthGov leadership or Victor Weyland - it wasn't that different from the mental powers they already had. The only method she didn't dare attempt was to immerse herself back into the hive mind, which almost turned her into an enthralled beast the last time she had been forced to subsume herself in that world. Even with the Necromorphs gone for the time being, it was possible with how many Markers were around.

Speaking of which, thanks for being a sounding board, Curtis thought at their patron, who stuck with them through everything. The Black Marker had long ago earned their trust... though, unfortunately, it didn't have any information, having been cut from the rest of the network like a severed limb.

IT IS PLEASANT TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED ON OCCASION. BUT PRAISE IS UNNECESSARY. I DO NOT SLEEP, REST OR HAVE ANY HOBBIES EXCEPT LISTENING TO RADIO WAVES AND COSMIC INTERFERENCE. IN OTHER WORDS, THERE IS NOTHING BETTER FOR ME TO DO.

Even so, it was nice to always have someone ready in their heads. Curtis glanced through the gap in the window shades again. When the sun rose on Earth, he'd likely be able to see the Gulf of Mexico, where the Marker resided. It was still strange to know that a cosmic being existed there for so long, always trying to suppress its innate power because it came to respect and love humanity despite its flaws. If an alien piece of rock developed feelings like that, maybe humans themselves could come to slowly improve themselves. If not now, maybe after Curtis and his friends saved the universe.

And they would save it. It was too painful to imagine them failing. Regardless, that time had not quite come. He didn't know how many more months, weeks or days there had left until things really got bad. Until they did, though, he, his wife and his friends just needed to survive and enjoy life as much as they could. After all, there was no point saving the universe if they couldn't savor it.

...

Nicole glanced in the mirror to make sure she looked presentable for their guests. By her own standards, anyway. Being a zombie who looked more like a dinosaur than a human, she developed her own sense of aesthetics.

Her teeth were clean (as they should, because she never ate), her exposed bone and flesh were free of blood (as expected, but tiny flakes of dried stuff still appeared occasionally), and her claws were slightly dulled so they didn't tear any furniture. Even her four eyes glowed a healthy shade of yellow! It was as predicted; she didn't have to do much in the way of self-care to maintain her current look, though she showered regularly to remove accumulating dust.

Being a Necromorph came naturally. It never scared her; she liked this body. It was stronger, faster and more durable than her human one. She could hypothetically "live" forever if she stayed in good condition. Still, a part of her wanted to be human again, if only because she could walk around in public and not be treated as a monster. The people closest to her never let how she looked get in the way of their friendship, though. As she thought that, she smoothed down her blouse with the side of a talon and made sure the sweatpants were tied tightly enough to not slide down her lanky frame.

She'd started donning clothes again about a year ago. Before that, she was pretty much always naked, wearing her specially made lab coat RIG to look more professional or to distinguish herself from other Necromorphs during an outbreak. That changed on a whim when she wanted to try something a little different. A little. She only had three outfits, all baggy because most clothing didn't fit her unique frame. That was plenty.

Though she didn't need to wear clothes - she no longer had the parts of a woman that were inappropriate to show in public (except maybe her entire rib cage) - it was nice to feel fabric against her flesh.

A knock at the door made her spring out of the bathroom. Curtis opened it. Like the last apartment they had, it was wooden. Unlike the nice redwood on the Sprawl, though, these doors were cheap plywood buttressed with rebar to prevent people from breaking in. Not that anybody in Red Moon Apartments had things worth stealing. Actually, all the medical imaging machines I have are worth quite a bit, even if they are aftermarket and not up to par with that NoonTech Diagnostics Machine I had to operate on Isaac with.

Well, if anyone did decide to break in, she could scare them off immediately... but she wouldn't, because it'd blow the cover they'd worked years to build up. Instead, she'd hide in one of the vents on the walls after securing the hard drive with all her data on it and Altman's journal, merely looking out their apartment was pillaged. But I could scare off a robber if I wanted to.

"Hey," Gabe said as he entered. Speaking of clothes, the cuffs of his pants were rolled up, revealing the ankles of his cybernetic legs beneath. Good thing he'd gotten used to the prosthetics; not every amputee did, especially with mechanical ones. Lexine was behind him, carrying a bouncing toddler over her shoulder, who giggled when she saw her "aunt" and "uncle". Nicole felt herself smile back. The proud parents didn't regret their decision to have a child at the most dangerous time in human history, even if Nicole privately doubted the wisdom of it. But she couldn't complain. Natalie was a treasure who brightened the lives of people not even related to her.

She resembled Lexine much more than Gabe with her lighter skin and softer features. Nicole wondered if the expression of genes from the matrilineal path was stronger because of her unique congenital history. That was something she could better answer now that she had two examples instead of one... but Nicole refrained from performing all but the most basic medical exams on Natalie. She was a child who couldn't consent to her tests, not a lab rat. There were too many unscrupulous people who would tear this kid apart to find the smallest scraps of information about the Xenomorphs. Even though Nicole had no intention of hurting her, the thought churned the place her stomach used to be.

Besides, Natalie didn't need Nicole to be her doctor. She had a pediatrician (one of the few fields of medicine Nicole wasn't certified in) at New Horizons General Hospital, where Nicole had done her residency! It was a decent hospital these days, which was surprising, given the poverty of New Horizons. The point was that Natalie needed Nicole to be a family friend more than a doctor. It was a role she was happy to oblige.

"Hi, Natalie," Nicole purposefully said in a higher-pitched voice - the kind most humans instinctively adopted when speaking to small children. She no longer had that impulse, so she had to consciously adopt it.

"Hi," Natalie simply said back with a wave as she was put on a couch. Nicole and Curtis were fine with her exploring this main room because there wasn't anything dangerous to hurt herself with. Except some cooking implements in the attached kitchenette, but those were put away every time they came by. Still, she often preferred to stick close to mom and dad. Every part of her was wonderful, including the name, which had never been in question. She was named after Nathan McNeill - Gabe's old friend from the Resource Wars and the man who died to save him and Lexine (and hopefully the universe by extension). His memory would live on in the child they only got to have because of his sacrifice.

Curtis said, "Great to see you guys" as he plopped onto a loveseat adjacent to the slightly larger sofa. They didn't necessarily need all these places to sit, but it was convenient for when guests visited. He languidly stretched his spine over the back before asking how their friends did. Relatively. Nicole sat beside him and put a hand over one of his own. That was as far as it went. Had to keep it socially appropriate. When the two were alone at a time like this, though... well, it depended on how frisky Curtis felt.

"Work was tough today," Gabe sighed, popping his back as he sat down next to his daughter. "I don't know if you've seen the news recently, but New Horizons is turning more and more into a madhouse every day." The man stopped and sighed before regaining his composure. "We've seen this before, but it's still hard to wrap my head around. It's like watching a ship crash while knowing there's nothing I can do about it."

Nicole knew what he meant, and she hated it. There were riots, mass killings, suicides and people withdrawing into themselves, refusing to partake in society or even interact with others. And this time, EarthGov couldn't hide it, because it happened everywhere. They just pretended everything was normal while no longer able to conceal the protests, economic collapse and crushing sense of despair. This slow slide to the end was almost worse than the event itself. They all knew what came, so it might as well arrive. Still, she was careful what she wished for. People hadn't started dying by the billions yet. She couldn't imagine what she'd feel when they did.

Their friend was on the front lines, experiencing it all daily. Gabe could have gotten any number of jobs, though they admittedly would have primarily been unskilled and not very well paying. Stefan could give them fake credentials, yet he couldn't download skills directly into their heads. That was purely sci-fi - unless one counted her and Curtis! But he wanted to help people, so he did that the only way he knew how: with a gun. That wasn't a condemnation. Violence had become more necessary than ever.

One of the worst parts was that she didn't know if the Markers were to blame for all this. People whipped themselves into violent mobs well before the Black Marker was discovered. The main voices inciting violence, like the Danik guy running the Circle (an even more extreme branch of Unitology that declared war on the government), were all humans. Beyond Unitologists, secular people also wanted a change. It was only a matter of time before EarthGov declared martial law - though they already had de facto done that, with soldiers stationed at every major artery, supplanting or replacing police officers. Nicole wondered how many times Gabe had forced himself to not turn his gun on them as they shot people.

Still, Nicole understood. The system went wrong long ago, and it couldn't be fixed, no matter who was in charge. But whatever came after it would be just as bad - or much worse, if the Markers had their way. It hurt her that innocent people were killed by the score.

"I can't complain," Lexine spoke after her husband finished airing his grievances. At least one person had a decent day, even if she grimaced. "I agree with what Gabe said, but I'm doing fine in spite of all that. Another day spent with Nat, playing with her, trying to teach her about Earth, animals, numbers, and so on." Natalie blurted out something about monkeys at animals being mentioned, which gave everyone a hearty laugh. Lexine patted her head. "She may only be two, but I want to get a head start with her. I don't know if she'll ever go to school - who knows if there'll be any in three years." That was something Nicole hadn't considered. Even if they prevailed over the Markers, society would be permanently changed. Children would grow up in a different universe, and loving parents were the only people who might help her navigate it.

Lexine retired after Natalie was born. Someone needed to raise a child, and they didn't have other family members to rely on. Still, she could have worked if she wanted. Mineral surveying jobs remained plentiful on Luna as desperate mining execs of small companies wagered on finding loads of precious metals on a celestial body that in all likelihood had been tapped out. These desires became more desperate after the collapse of the planet cracking industry and the Shard being blown to kingdom come. She could have even worked with Curtis - she'd look for resources, and he'd dig them up! Instead, she chose to let Gabe support them both, which was an equally honorable decision. Funny how they became very traditional in that sense, with the men working while the women stayed home.

With that, Curtis flipped on the television. No holographic display for them. Physical screens were cheaper and less likely to crap out. And, in Nicole's opinion, they looked better. Holograms also gave off frequencies of light which human eyes couldn't detect but which hers could, making for a muddier viewing experience. That last point didn't matter much, since she could look through Curtis' eyes. Well, I can't when Lexine's around, Nicole thought as Curtis navigated tens of thousands of channels.

Or Natalie, for that matter. The first experiment Nicole ran on Natalie was just having the infant be in a room with her and Curtis while Lexine and Gabe returned to their apartment on the other side of the building for a few minutes. The Bond was still severed - Natalie shared the same powers. Nicole expected as much, since it had been passed through eight generations already, but she found it interesting that it was present from birth instead of developing later in life. Her psychic-dampening abilities originated from her brain and nervous system, neither of which would fully develop until adulthood. Maybe they'd learn more - or maybe not, since it wasn't immediately helpful.

Curtis finally settled on the correct channel, which featured talking heads jawing about the upcoming game. It stayed muted, because nobody cared about what they had to say. Slightly more interesting were the betting odds at the bottom right corner.

"A 95 percent chance of a Tigers win," Nicole commented. And that was factoring in home-field advantage. "Seems a little lopsided."

"The Armstrongs have been the worst team in the league since I was a kid," Curtis said, kicking his feet up on a footstool. "Nobody in their right minds would bet on them."

"I put money on," Gabe admitted with a faint grin. "Just 25 credits, nothing major. Need to have some pride in your team, right?" Fair enough - those were long-shot odds, but he'd rake in credits if it turned out to be his lucky day. Nicole wasn't a betting woman, but if she were, she'd find more engaging subjects to wager on.

As they chatted, Natalie bounced over to Nicole with a big smile on her little face.

"You want up?"

"Yeah!"

Necromorphs looked like something from a young child's worst nightmare, but Natalie had never been afraid of Nicole. In fact, she gravitated toward Nicole the most of anyone except her parents. It didn't matter why; she was happy to hold a child on her lap.

Not that Nicole wanted to be a mother. The idea never appealed to her at any point in her life. Obviously, even if she wanted to, that was completely out of reach now. Larry II was the closest thing to a child she'd ever have. But she admitted it was something she missed out on. That was OK. There was more in the universe to do than could be accomplished in hundreds of lifetimes.

They may not have been a traditional family, yet she wouldn't have traded these people for any others. Not even her own parents. Pain and guilt stung her between the ribs as she thought that, yet it was true. In six years, she'd never let them know that she was "alive". It wasn't even because they might tell the government. No, it would have been too traumatic to reveal what she became. While she wasn't ashamed, she knew her mother and father well enough to know they'd never recover from the shock and grief. It'd be kinder to let them think she was truely dead, especially after all this time had passed.

The pre-game announcements ended, and the camera feed switched to the cubical stadium interior. Curtis turned the volume up. It was time for EarthGov's national anthem. He sighed and got ready to mute it again when something happened.

A low murmur spread through the audience of tens of thousands as the first notes played. Nicole's body tightened with the same energy which gripped a great mass of humanity mere miles away. The automated cameras spent several seconds panning over the faces of the crowd, which erupted as the music began in earnest.

A sea of bodies as diverse as all humanity - white, black, brown, male, female, non-binary, tall, short, obviously human and a few who had modified themselves to look like something alien - were united for a moment in total disdain for the "leaders" who made their lives worse. Any who might have embraced patriotism (and it looked like there were a few) were drowned out by a yelling, screaming, spitting mob shouting expletives about EarthGov that, thankfully, Natalie was too young to understand. This wasn't the kind of indignation that led to even the possibility of positive changes. She had a gut feeling this would build and build until one day, these people just exploded in a way nobody had seen yet.

The feed stopped, and a placeholder image reading TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES was plastered across the screen.

A minute later, the feed returned to the two announcers, who were clearly forced to read a script. They were sweating. The game had been cancelled, citing "potential insurgent activity" in the crowd. That was the end of it. The channel switched to rerunning highlights of Z-ball matches from years or decades ago to pad out the runtime.

Nicole felt her mandibles hang open. She turned her head to her husband and friends, who reacted the same way. Even a month ago, this would have been unthinkable. Everyone in Washington Stadium would have been imprisoned or sent to brainwashing or "reeducation". That was implausible now, of course. The government had other concerns. Even if they didn't, EarthGov didn't have the infrastructure to deal with this many people wishing death upon every single member of the cabinet. They only made an exception for the Sprawl because society would have imploded far sooner if everyone knew about the Necromorphs.

Lexine was the first to pick her jaw off the floor. She just looked sad.

"I think I should go home," she muttered, suddenly appearing apologetic. "I'm sorry you got everything ready for me, but I don't feel up to staying. Thank you, though."

"Um, yeah," Curtis awkwardly replied as Lexine scooped Natalie off Nicole's lap.

"I'm leaving, too," Gabe followed up. He stood, looking smaller than normal. Disappointment fluttered through her body-wide brain, but she understood. They needed time to process what they'd just seen, and it honestly felt like a punch in the gut. She never thought she'd feel so afraid over people hating a government that she also hated. One which deserved to be despised. She was just afraid of the terrible effects that'd come with that end. So were her friends.

They left with forced smiles and nods. Nicole felt deflated. In fact, she was; the air had all gone out of her lungs, making them shrivel. The two waited in silence for a few minutes, until Lexine got far enough away for their brains to reconnect. Like a switch being flipped, they again had the potential to be of one mind.

I'm turning in early, Curtis thought before standing and shuffling away. A dagger stabbed Nicole where her heart used to be. A fleeting thought crossed her mind that there may have been a way to help him.

They could do incredible things to each other's brains with their Bond. For example, she could put him in a psychic VR simulation where he thought he was somewhere else or make him see Nicole as someone different (in case he wanted to seemingly have sex with a human occasionally... which he rarely did), but those things required consent from both parties. Consent that Curtis didn't provide. He wanted to wallow for a while. I know you want to help, but there's nothing we can do except talk about it... or not. Then he turned, finding this next part important enough to say aloud. Nicole already knew what he'd say before the words reached his lips. "Altering my mind won't help. It'd just be a lie."

"I know," she replied with a nod. Then leaned back into the soft cushions, which made it feel like the loveseat began to absorb her. It was only a brief notion that she wasn't going to follow through with.

The mind was more than a computer. It couldn't just be programmed however one wanted. If she did this - even if he consented - some part of him would realize that what she imposed was wrong, and it would fight back. It would return to how it truly felt... or else it would break. That's what happened with people exposed to the Markers, after all; they twisted the brain until it snapped. Sure, they could temporarily induce sleep or fun hallucinations or the like. But those were fleeting fancies. It was different from changing the core of what a person was: their thoughts, feelings, loves, hatreds, or, in this case, fears.

I won't be long. Good night, she thought, switching back to mental communication. If she couldn't help him, sleep might. Curtis fell onto the bed after he quickly brushed his teeth, leaving the apartment to Nicole.

She could have watched television, read a book, gotten exercise or tried a hundred other little pastimes she developed while confined in an apartment. Out of all those, she chose to walk over to the window and stare at the cosmos. There was the seemingly endless urban jungle of New Horizons, followed by that of Earth and the rest of the universe. She just stood there, dwarfed by it all - the sky lanes and other buildings were too far away for anyone to see her.

As she stared out, part of her mind kept tabs on Curtis' dreams as he drifted away. She could at least help her husband by keeping nightmares at bay. She batted them away one by one as they crept from the depths of his mind. Eventually, he settled into a good dream on his own: him alone on a lovely seashore. It was the kind that didn't exist anymore, except for the wealthiest. A nice fantasy, though.

After almost an hour, she honored her vow by closing the curtains and returning to the simple bedroom, where Curtis lightly snored. It was a pleasant sound; she may not have had waves or wind to create music for her nights, but this noise was just as pleasant and familiar. She slid into bed alongside him, knowing her talons had been filed down just enough to not shred the sheets. Her head hit the pillow, and she was suddenly stiff yet completely aware of her surroundings.

Necromorphs didn't sleep. She didn't get tired, except at times when she greatly exerted herself. As a doctor, she was used to staying up with caffeine for long stretches, so it wasn't completely different. Now, though, resting was optional and not strictly needed. She could remain awake and alert forever if she desired. But she didn't. Instead, she wanted to be close to her other half all night.

...

Curtis jolted awake, flying from a dream of lounging on a pristine beach into dirty, sad reality. No sudden nightmare of impending doom caused this shift. Instead, it was a knock at the door. The lack of connection to his wife meant Lexine must have been the one behind it, or at least that she was also present. Still, Curtis' hair stood on end. Why didn't they call before coming? A terrible fear of his friends being held hostage with guns to their heads flashed through his mind before he shoved it away. The government or Unitologists or whatever would have killed them without theatrics. He turned to Nicole, who went stiff, as if rigor mortis suddenly set in after six years of undeath.

Slowly, Curtis climbed out of bed, shivering. The knock came a little louder as he moved to put on some clothes. Then he silently crept to the door and pressed his eye to the peephole.

Lexine was indeed present, as was Gabe. And there was an EarthGov agent, too - but one Curtis and Nicole were on acceptable terms with. They all looked on-edge, though not quite panicking.

"It's Robert Norton," he mouthed to his wife, who stood in the doorway to their bedroom. Nicole cocked her head in confusion. Even if he couldn't read her mind, he knew exactly what she thought. That included letting these people in despite the strange circumstances.

Curtis cracked the door open and gestured the trio inside while Nicole flipped the lights on. The threshold was slammed shut the second the last of them entered.

"What are you doing here?" He mostly spoke to Robert, who surveyed the place with the eye of someone even more paranoid than the rest of them. Probably checking to see if he spotted any hidden cameras or booby traps. A gun was holstered to his hip, which didn't help the atmosphere.

"I didn't have time to call ahead," Robert said as he finished his quick scan. "EarthGov's listening in on every channel these days, or at least has algorithms to do it. Even something coded might have been picked up. It wasn't a chance I wanted to take. So I'm personally paying a visit." All right, fine. They had reason to listen to him.

Robert was Karrie's older brother and a captain in the United Systems Military. The two were never close, but the rift between them widened after the Sprawl, or so Karrie said - neither Curtis nor Nicole had been directly involved in this. Robert, as a high-ranking officer, had known that his superiors were up to some heinous shit, even if he wasn't aware of the specifics. Still, he hadn't been involved in any of it, so Curtis mostly shrugged it off.

What made them share their secret was Robert confiding in his sister that he sometimes pondered leaving EarthGov, or even sabotaging them, because of all the times they'd screwed people over in recent years. After that, everyone gave Karrie their blessings to tell Robert about everything and why he should help them to fulfill that dream. It was a huge risk, but having someone in a position of military authority would help immensely.

It didn't work as they hoped.

To be fair, Robert had gotten them some intelligence: troops moving to guard Markers, the military engineering corps being drafted into the construction process and rumblings of creating containment planets for Markers with thousands of antimatter warheads pointed down at them, for example. Important stuff when they needed to know about their enemies' actions. It just wasn't the kind of information they could act on. Instead, it only provided more ominous warnings of the dark times to come. But he had gotten very into it, as evidenced by him having done this for three years. Probably fancied himself a secret agent by that point.

"To answer your question, though, I'm here because, for a brief moment, we have a way onto Acheron."

The reply made Curtis blink before he felt a grin spread across his face. Acheron: a moon of the gas giant Calpamos orbiting one of Zeta Reticuli's two stars. A ship from an unidentified sentient alien species crashed there long ago with a payload of Xenomorph eggs. This was the sole source of the aliens that killed the people on the USG Nostromo, the miners on Aerodyne and, of course, people on the Sprawl. If anywhere in the galaxy was going to have what they needed to learn, it was there. Unfortunately, the moon was protected by a significant chunk of Weyland-Yutani's private army. The Company bought Zeta Reticuli wholesale in 2195, just a few years after EarthGov formed from the merger of three megastates, and had guarded it ever since.

"Stefan Schneider put a few small satellites into orbit a while back to see if any gaps in the patrols opened. Less than 12 hours ago, they revealed something that's never happened before: 90 percent of the ships around the moon are gone. They shocked out on vectors leading to our solar system and a few others with Weyland-Yutani holdings. Only a small garrison of soldiers and scientists appears to be staying."

It sounded to Curtis like the Company consolidated its forces for something big. Likely the Necromorph outbreak everyone knew was coming, but maybe it was related to EarthGov or those Unitologist terrorists. Regardless, it was obvious that this was the best time they'd ever have to strike. Weyland-Yutani, despite how they portrayed themselves, wasn't invincible. Hell, Curtis and Nicole got one over on them before.

"Second, we're about to know exactly where that base is."

Curtis almost pinched himself, for this seemed too good to be true. Was it a dream? Take the good news, he told himself. They were getting somewhere.

The data Stefan sent over the years made it clear that he didn't know where on Acheron the alien spacecraft was. Not visible through the hazy atmosphere, and Wey-Yu set up enough signal jammers across the moon to render scanning useless. He must have found another way to locate it.

"How?" Curtis asked.

"Stefan, Ellie and Karrie have been trawling the ring system around KG-348 on occasion," Lexine interrupted, referring to the solitary gas giant planet orbiting Zeta 1 Reticuli, the other star in the binary star system. Unlike the neighboring sun, Weyland-Yutani presence was always minimal, making it a better place to look for clues about the Xenomorphs, Acheron and whatever secrets were hidden there. "They finally found something: the Nostromo's flight recorder."

"No fucking way," Nicole said, taking a step forward. He knew she didn't mean that as an accusation that they were lying. She just couldn't believe they located such an important piece of a ghost ship. It'd be like someone on Earth finding Blackbeard's treasure.

From what they'd been able to piece together from the Wey-Yu data, the Nostromo's flight recorder had been found a couple decades after the ship was destroyed. It was recovered by an independent salvage operator named Henry Marlow casing what was then the edge of human exploration - kind of funny to think about now that humanity had been across the galaxy. The whole thing hadn't been explored, for there were far too many stars, but anywhere in the Milky Way could be reached in a matter of days.

He dropped it off a state-of-the-art (for the time) space station called Sevastopol Station orbiting this KG-348 gas giant... but not before retracing the coordinates to the alien ship the Nostromo had found, which would be the most valuable derelict in history. Somebody must have gotten a Xenomorph implanted in them, and that was how the first infestation of the things in human history began, almost 100 years before the Black Marker was discovered, and it turned Sevastopol into a nightmare to rival Titan Station; the implanted Xenomorph must have been one of the rare ones which could reproduce. Whether by accident or sabotage, Sevastopol fell into the planet, ending the threat - and several thousand lives.

All this was classified, of course; he'd never heard of any legends about it, and a quick Transnet search yielded few results, unlike the Nostromo, which was a historical ship that went missing. It had been compiled from what Stefan brought back and the little data Nicole dragged out of the corrupted compilation of code she spent years trying to crack. Wey-Yu must have only found the wreck through years of brute force searching every inch of the moon. Nicole's eyes fixed on Lexine's face, which beamed, even if that happiness was tempered by nervousness. Somehow, the most important piece survived. And if they found it, they could trace those same planetary coordinates to the ship, just like Marlow had done.

"You want to go?" his wife asked, feeling out every syllable.

"I do," she replied with a nod. "I need to get out there and learn more about Ellen." This had grown beyond academic curiosity for Lexine. It became a family matter as she tried to learn more about a very important ancestor. Curtis thought it was beautiful that she got to explore this, even in a weird and dangerous way. He knew nothing about his parents and probably never would.

"We're all going," she said, pointing between herself, her husband and Robert. "We hope you will, too."

It wasn't even a question. This was their chance - perhaps their only one - and they would seize it.

"Great. Now to get Isaac," Robert said, blasé about the family history on display here. And ignorant that he was about to bother someone who really wouldn't want to be.

...

Nicole hesitated when Robert said Isaac was next on their list. They needed him present, obviously, but it might be a hard sell with how down he'd been. Especially with Ellie being where they were going. But he was an adult. He'd get over a bad breakup with the universe on the line. First, though, they had to look the part.

"Wait a second while we get everything ready," she told Robert, who raised an eyebrow.

"I've got plenty of military equipment and surplus to go around," he said. "Not with me at the moment, but on the Eudora." That was the ship he commanded, she knew... which made her slowly raise a chitinous area that used to be an eyebrow.

"You brought an EarthGov military ship out here instead of taking a shuttle," she slowly said, trying to figure out how and why he did that. Was he supposed to stop on New Horizons for another reason?

Robert grinned a lopsided smile before leaning forward, even though there was no point whispering. "Let me tell you a secret even Schneider hasn't managed to pick up on: you think the government could disintegrate at any time? It already pretty much has." A shiver crawled up Nicole's back as the man continued. "The actual functionaries - the President, support staff, pencil-pushers - they're still hanging on. But people in the military are making plans to jump ship. Morale is the lowest it's been in EarthGov's history, and even if they don't know why, they know something bad is about to happen. Something that it'll take more than guns and bullets to stop. I may be the first to have actually left, but there will be more."

The room was in silence for a moment as everyone contemplated what Robert said. She believed him, though. The government might come down before the Necromorphs arrived. Not because of the Markers: in fact, those must have helped keep EarthGov afloat because of the power they provided. Instead, its end might come because the people it supposedly protected no longer wanted help. They batted that hand away and leapt on the person who offered it like wild dogs.

"Anyway, my offer stands; you can help yourself to anything in the armory," Robert continued nonchalantly, snapping Nicole from her thoughts.

"Well, we have our own tools, actually," she replied, trying to be diplomatic. They rarely used regular guns, which weren't ideal for killing Necromorphs. Then again, they weren't killing zombies this time around. If they fought anyone, it was going to be humans.

She had killed humans before. Not always by her own hand, but through inaction or letting someone else do the dirty work. Now, these were always bad people, like Challus Mercer or corrupt EarthGov soldiers. The universe was better without them. But it was diametrically opposed to everything she believed in and swore oaths to. Still, she never really felt bad about it, even if part of her thought she should. And that part of her was always scared by that callousness. It's war, she told herself.

Robert grunted in annoyance and motioned for them to get on with their preparations. They would make this quick. She could feel Robert's eyes on her the whole walk. Lexine fidgeted a little, but Gabe - he looked ready to get back in the saddle. Nicole walked back into their bedroom after Curtis, shutting the door behind her. A sense of urgency inflamed every cell in Nicole's body as she did, feeling like an inch she couldn't scratch.

"We're doing this, aren't we," Curtis said as more of a statement than a question. They had no choice. It was either this or waiting for death. At long last, they had a chance to break free of the rut they found themselves in and do what they spent more than half a decade preparing for.

"This might be our final chance to learn anything useful," she replied. So many years had been spent spinning her wheels. Now it was going to be put to the test whether that time was spent well. There was so much they might find... but the most important to her was a third number.

From Altman's journal (which she took with them), they knew something was 49,079 light-years "south" of the galactic center in relation to the Andromeda galaxy.

From the Xenomorph, which they briefly established a telepathic link with immediately before its death, they knew that the same something was 789 light-years "down" on the galactic plane toward the Great Attractor.

If it knew that, the ship might just contain the third coordinate, the east-west one. It was a long shot, but if they got it... well, she didn't know what waited for them at the end of the line. Something important, she knew that much.

FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH, I WILL ENDEAVOR TO ASSIST YOU HOWEVER I CAN EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

The words were nearly inaudible with Lexine so close, but the Black Marker's encouragement got through. Nicole felt its excitement all these miles away. Glancing at the day side of Earth through the window, she saw the Gulf of Mexico had come fully into view. It was a largely cloudless day in that part of the world, so she could almost imagine it looking up at them despite being buried in the inky depths.

She felt herself smile. All three of them were so different, yet they were linked in a way even the rest of the Necromorphs weren't to each other. It was a connection Nicole still didn't fully grasp… but neither did the Marker.

While she did that, Curtis flung open the closet, where they kept everything they needed for this eventuality. It was packed with their weapons, armor, ammo, a small cache of medical supplies and a few other useful miscellaneous items.

The tools of the trade remained the same. Curtis had a RIG and a Line Gun. Nicole had her lab coat-like RIG, along with her custom Plasma Cutter and a host of medical supplies for frontline triage. She still practiced with the latter so she didn't get rusty. Medicine was still a great love of hers, even if she didn't get many chances to practice it anymore.

Curtis' gear sparkled slightly as he wiggled into the RIG, for it was unused. While Nicole managed to largely preserve her tools, Curtis' implements from the Sprawl emerged ruined. Thankfully, Stefan was rich enough to buy him whatever they needed, no questions asked. It wounded Curtis' pride to be so financially dependent on someone else, even though he knew it was stupid. All were on the same team.

She threw her RIG over her shoulders and turned to look at him. His was fully on by that point, and it resembled his last: an outfit designed for soldiers, with the armor plating and dark color scheme to match. Despite being a miner, he needed the best. And whatever she had to say about the military, its RIGs were second to none. Still unable to stand up to more than a few hits from beings with stronger muscles and sharper claws than anything found in nature.

"How do I look?" he asked, taking an exploratory step.

"It suits you," Nicole responded as she loaded her Plasma Cutter. Nothing she hadn't seen before, but yeah, he looked pretty spiffy.

Racked her "brain" about what came next. She almost thought there was something they forgot about… but no. The only thing left was to go out, get Isaac and try to save the universe. Easy.

Bye, Larry, she thought, as if the plant also had a psychic connection to them (she wouldn't have been surprised at this point). Gave him a little extra water to tide him over until they returned. She didn't know when that would be or in what condition they'd be in - but they would return. They would come back and look upon Earth with wonder.

She told herself it would be spectacular.